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Keeping an Eye on the Charts

Unlike most parents, Ann Butenas has an answer for every questions a doctor may ask her about her childrens medical history.

When was your sons last shot? Butenas can give the day, date and time.

When was the last time your son had an X-ray? Butenas answers within seconds.

Is your son allergic to Zyrtec? An answer is instant.

For most of us, a visit to our childrens doctors office is often an exercise in Trivial Pursuit. Instead of answers, we give him hunches.

"I think shes had a DPT shot." "This is his second ear infection. Well, wait, maybe this is his third."

"Shell take liquid Amoxicellin much better than the chewables. Well, wait. Now I think it was the chewables she likes the last time."

As guilty as it makes us feel, keeping track of our kids medical and dental records is a bigger pain in the rear than receiving a penicillin shot.

Add to the fact the frequency with which your primary care physician changes thanks to your companys revolving door of health insurance providers, and having those mountains of medical documents mailed from one doctor to another becomes a real exercise in futility.

But last spring, along came Butenas, a corridor housewife who earned her masters degree in business management at Baker University in 1996.

In the last four years, Ann has given birth to Alec, 4 years old; Zach, 2 ? years old; and Noah, 1 year old. Despite her hectic schedule since the boys arrival, Butenas said she was prepared for a life dressed in a bathrobe and watching "Oprah," but her entrepreneurial wheels wouldnt stop spinning.

While she was trying to think of an at-home business, her thought processes were often interrupted by the numerous doctor and dentist office visits she had to take with her three boys.

"In one year, I was at the doctors office 65 times," Butenas said. "Between wellness checks and sickness appointments, I felt like I spent my entire life there."

Then one day, sitting in a doctors waiting room, an idea jolted Butenas like a cold stethoscope:

'Medical Records'

Being a meticulous record keeper herself (she has a closet in her home with 25 binders of notes, keepsakes and other mementos of her three boys), Butenas never had trouble providing her physicians with medical information of her children. Many doctors had commented to her how appreciative they were of her record keeping.

Last April (1999), Butenas put together a medical and dental binder for a friend who was having a baby shower. Everybody at the party commented on her "great idea" and wanted her to make them one.

After a few phone calls to an intellectual properties (copyright) attorney, a graphic designer and a printer, Butenas living room is now stacked high with boxes containing the more than 60 pages each manual contains. When an order comes in, Butenas scampers through the piles, collates, in order, places them in a binder and sends them off to the customer for the $24.95 price, plus shipping and handling.

"Ive had incredible response from OB/GYN offices where Ive left some samples," she said. "Im working on creating a Web site and trying to market them into specialty stores. I just think these things make sense."

The medical record manual is categorized by color tabs to make it user-friendly. From immunization information to wellness exams to medical release forms, the manual covers all aspects of file keeping from A-to-Z (which, coincidentally is similar to the name of Butenas publishing company, ANZ Publications (an acronym for Alex, Noah, Zachary).

"I created this to keep track of all medical and dental information, basically, from conception of the child to age 18," Butenas said, "Then, when a child turns 18, their parent can slip a $20 bill in it, slide it across the kitchen table and say, There, have a nice life, theres all your medical information," she added, laughing.

To keep up with the demands of her busy day, Butenas gets up at 4 a.m. and heads to the basement where she works out for an hour. Then its off to do the laundry, get breakfast prepared and be ready for when her sons wake up around 8 a.m.

In addition to her medical manual, Butenas is also in the process of getting copyright protection for a manual geared toward senior citizens and pets. Shes also trying to complete a book entitled, "Oh, Boy! Oh, Boy! Oh, Boy" about raising three young sons.

"Im definitely high-energy," she said, crediting her mother, who was an attorney, and father, who was a doctor, with her sense of organization and stamina.

One of the biggest advantages to the medical manual, according to Butenas, is that fact it goes anywhere your children goes.

"Its very beneficial when the parents travel out of town and leave their children with a babysitter or grandparents," she said. "Theres a section for medical release forms and all you have to do is hand over the binder to that person."

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